¿It's Christmas … in September

THE clocks haven’t gone back yet but the town’s Christmas lights are already up. Contractors were spotted installing the town’s festive decorations on Long Street last week as Middleton basked in double-digit temperatures.

THE clocks haven’t gone back yet but the town’s Christmas lights are already up.

Contractors were spotted installing the town’s festive decorations on Long Street last week as Middleton basked in double-digit temperatures.

It comes after other tows in the borough hit the headlines as council staff installed their decorations earlier than ­normal.

One resident said: “Christmas seems to start earlier and earlier every year – next thing they’ll be putting ‘Happy Christmas’ on Easter eggs.”

Rochdale Borough Council’s head of highways and engineering said his staff were only putting the lights up early and had no intention of turning them on until late November.

Donald Forrester added: “I understand that we’re early putting Christmas lights up now, but we are merely putting them up and not switching them on.

“We have a duty to save taxpayers money, and by putting them up now with lights for other festivities we will be saving around £10,000.

“In addition to this, major street lighting improvement work is due to start in late October and early November.

“Unfortunately this coincides with the period when we would normally be erecting the festive illuminations and therefore for this year, and this year only, we have brought forward the eight week construction phase.

“Rest assured, the ‘switch on’ for this year’s Christmas lights will be in late November as normal.”